by T J Trapp
She smiled and retuned his squeeze. “Well, you will be spending more time with me. I have good news.
“Mother has agreed to us traveling around the country. She thinks it is a good idea for you to see more of the Theland, and for the people to become better acquainted with me, as the future Queen, and you, as my devoted Consort. She also thinks it would be good for us to get out and away from Brun for a while.” Erin wrinkled her nose as if smelling a foul odor. “She thinks he is up to something underhanded. Mother says it would be unseemly and unsafe for the future Queen to travel alone, even if accompanied by a Great Wizard. So, she thinks we should go with a proper royal escort.”
“Well, okay,” Alec said. “I’m glad that she finally decided to let us go, but I was rather hoping it would just be … you and me.”
Erin kissed his nose. “Welcome to the life of a Royal Consort. We have to act royal.”
“When can we leave?” he asked.
“I think we could leave any time after the mountain snows have finished melting in the uplands and the roads are clear, but I think it would be best to wait until after the spring planting. Then the villages will not be as busy. We don’t want to disrupt their well-being too much.”
Alec had envisioned a quiet trip through the countryside for just the two of them, sort of like the more pleasant parts of their earlier travels, but saw the Queen’s point of view. The people needed to see their next ruler, and she needed to look like a Royal Princess, not like some vacationing college-kid hitch-hiker.
And there was the issue of safety. Although neither Alec nor Erin had told the story of their travails to many people, Alec suspected that Erin had shared the details with her mother – she had probably told her mother more about the horrors she had experienced in the nomad camp than she had even told Alec. The Queen would not want to risk the safety her daughter, even in her own land.
✽✽✽
Finally, after a few short weeks of planning, packing, and preparations, they were off, leaving Freeland City with little fanfare. Twenty riders accompanied them, as well as two supply wagons and a royal wagon for Erin and Alec. The riders were a typical Theland mix of twelve men and eight women. They were expecting to be gone at least a month, possibly a bit longer, and would resupply along the way as needed. From Alec’s study of the scholars’ maps, he knew Theland was a long valley nestled between two mountain ranges – the Elf Mountains and the Evening Mountains. A central river, the Ryn, ran the length of the valley. He figured that the valley was probably about one hundred els wide and about four hundred els from one end to the other. If they needed to communicate with the Queen or others in her court, a message could be sent from one end of Theland to the other in about four days’ time.
They planned a leisurely trip along the Evening Mountains of Theland, then crossing the Ryn and coming back towards Freeland City along the foothills of the Elf Mountains on the other side of the country. Alec knew from the scholars and cartographers that the realm’s boundaries in the mountains were ill-defined. The mountain range on the evening side separated Theland from the Grasslands and was settled by no one. The mountains on the morning side were a part of the elven lands – only elves were permanent residents of those mountains, since the winters were so harsh. The sections of the mountains within Theland were mostly used for summer pastures and hunting.
The upper, moonward, edge of Theland was better defined. The kingdom of Gott bordered Theland to the moonward side, where the two mountain ranges came together.
“Gott has been our ally for over a generation now,” Erin explained to Alec. “Mother said that she owes the Gott a state visit – she will probably do that in the fall, and we will probably go with her. That would be after the harvest. I don’t think we need to visit Gott on this trip, and Mother agreed with that. We need to show you Theland before we venture too far afield. “
Alec was interested in the Elf Mountains. Erin had told him that it was in those mountains where she had seen a dragon and heard it sing.
“Are we going to go near the Theland boundary in the Elf Mountains?” he asked. The elves intrigued Alec because they sounded like they might be people with technical skills that exceeded others around, perhaps even involving dark energy.
“I don’t think so,” she answered. “We will just stay in the foothills and visit our own villages. There are few roads leading into the mountains in that area and sometimes it is hard to tell where the boundary is. And we don’t want to cross into their land by mistake.”
“Why not?”
“The elves are very secretive. They do not like intruders and allow visits by invitation only. The last time we had a state visit with them was when Grandmother was a little girl; Mother said that Grandmother told her that she accompanied her mother and father on a formal trip of some sort. She told Mother that she didn’t remember much about it but that the elves were handsome people and their city was very beautiful.”
The first day they traveled through the pleasant green countryside and newly-planted fields near Freeland City. Alec had seen some of this part of Theland before, during short jaunts with Erin. The landscape was dotted with small farms interspersed with large expanses of forest. The first evening they reached a village at the edge of the Evening Mountains. They were treated with fanfare and a celebration. This was the chance for the village people to see and to impress their future ruler and her consort; rumors of the Great Wizard’s abilities had spread like wildfire. Not the quiet trip that Alec wanted.
Two more days, two more towns. Then three more after that. Alec felt almost like a circus performer. They had the routine down. In each town, after they were formally greeted Alec would show off by lighting the town square for an evening of entertainment and socializing. He occasionally would fix some glaring problem in the town. In one town the water supply to the well had broken, and the water had to come from outside. Alec created an underground pipe so that the water could flow from a spring directly into the town center. In another place, Alec coated the steep roadway into the town with cobblestones so that it would have easier access during rain and snow.
As they moved further upriver, the villages became smaller and further apart.
“There will be no villages over the next two days,” the lead rider advised them one morning. “We will be making camp for the next three nights.”
They soon were approaching the moonward end of the valley, where the two mountain ranges came together. In the last place they visited, they were told of strange booms in the mountains – ‘something to do with dragons’ was the presumption. The booms were different from late-winter avalanches, the town elders said.
When they reached the end of the valley they camped along the edge of the mountains by a mountain stream. Alec and Erin sat by the edge of the stream as they ate – the cook had outdone herself in preparing their meal.
“Excellent,” said Alec and Erin agreed. The cook beamed.
They slept well that night.
✽✽✽
The next morning their company broke camp in an orderly fashion and again made their way along the well-traveled road. About mid-day they were startled by a loud boom echoing through the mountains.
“What is that?!” said Erin.
“I don’t know,” said Alec. “It sounds like how blasting would sound in my country.” He knew Erin did not know what ‘blasting’ was, or how it would sound, but he didn’t explain. Instead, they stopped their wagon and listened. A short while later there was a second boom.
“We need to investigate,” said Erin. “This isn’t normal.”
“I agree,” said Alec.
“We can take a troop of – say – ten of our riders with us and leave the others here. It’s a good spot to make camp,” said Erin. “We’ve lost over half of the daylight this day, anyway, so we can camp here and ride off early on the morrow to investigate.”
They halted their company, and Erin explained the change in plans to Thom, the lead rider. By the
time they had finished setting up camp, they had heard two more of the strange booms in the mountains.
The next morning they were off early, with Erin leading her small band of riders into the mountains. They rode for the better part of an hour, making good progress up the slopes. The mountains soon became too steep for the trogus; although the trogus could lope for hours across an even plain, they were ill-suited for climbing.
“Let’s leave our mounts here, with two riders to guard them, and hike on from here,” Alec suggested. They dismounted, grabbed packs and weapons, and started making their way up the steep, rocky mountainside. By mid-day they came to a ridge that one of the guards estimated was about a quarter of the way into the range. So far that morning, they had heard only one boom. It was more distinct than the sounds from yesterday, but with all the echoes from the mountain peaks, it was very hard to pinpoint. They stopped to observe.
“Let me try to pull some dark energy to see if I can feel anything,” Alec muttered to Erin. “There might be something in the distance.” Focus. Nothing.
“Erin, you’re better at this kind of stuff than I am. Use your ring and see if you can feel anything around us.”
Erin felt for her ring. She pulled on its strength, as Alec had shown her. She could sense others around her – the aura of Alec and the eight guards blazed out at her. She could feel the other two guards and the trogus in the distance. Ahead she felt something. Erin frowned in concentration. She could feel a bear in her den with cubs. She felt a wild drung hiding under the ridgeline. She could feel the hyra in their caves waiting for night. Over the next ridge, she could also sense a large congregation of disturbances. Those are people, she thought. Also, she felt a single disturbance further along the ridgeline.
“I can feel a large collection of people,” she said to Alec. “They are on the far side of the next ridge.” She paused, still sensing. “Also, there is a single person just down the ridge from us. I think he is spying on us.”
“We should go talk to him and ask what is going on, I would think,” said Alec. Erin agreed.
They developed a simple plan. The main group would start forward while Erin and Alec would hide and wait. Erin could sense the observer and see his movements. They hoped the observer would not have counted the group size and would think everyone in the party was still together. The main group would continue to make noise and not try to cover their location at all. Then Erin and Alec could sneak up close to the spy and find out what was going on.
“No, my Princess, we cannot leave you unprotected,” Thom said to her.
“I understand your concern, Thom, but if some of you stay with us, it will defeat our purpose. Go. Go on ahead as I have instructed you.” The man looked uncertain. Erin laid her hand on his arm. “We’ll whistle if we need you. Go!” The riders and Erin all used a series of whistles for battle communication, and each knew them well.
Alec was clueless about whistling but assumed that between his abilities and Erin’s abilities they could take care of themselves, whistling or not.
The main group took off as planned and the two of them remained, crouched motionless behind a rock. Erin sensed the position of the lone individual.
“He is moving down,” she said. “He is following our main group. We can move in behind him if we are quiet.” They moved along the path that Erin indicated. She would occasionally stop to pinpoint the man’s new location. “Shhh,” she hissed at Alec. Erin was cat-quiet. Alec was trying hard but was somewhere around elephant-quiet.
After several minutes, Erin stopped, perplexed. “I think he knows we’re following him. He may have heard us. He is trying to double back on us. We can cut him off if we move across his path.” She considered their next moves. “There is no more advantage to silence.” With that, she whistled a shrill blast. Sounds came from below as her riders reversed their course and started rapidly working their way toward the whistle.
“He’s running,” Erin said. “He suspects the whistle meant he was detected.” Erin had the advantage of sensing his position. “He will come out in the draw below us in a bit.” They waited.
As Erin had predicted, a man soon emerged from behind a rock outcrop and started to cross the little draw in front of them. He was dressed in a blue uniform; he wore a sword at his side and was carrying a short spear, the weapon of choice in these mountains.
“An Alderman!” Alec said softly to Erin. “That’s the same uniform that the slavers wore.”
“Stop,” shouted Erin, as the man crossed the draw. The two of them stood up, and the man saw that he could not continue in the same direction without crossing their path. He started to turn the other direction but heard the riders coming from below. With both paths of escape blocked, he stopped, then drew his spear and charged towards Erin.
Since his first encounters with armed combat, when he rescued Erin by inventing maneuvers on the spot, Alec had thought a lot about how to handle this kind of situation. He let the lone man continue to charge toward Erin. Erin had drawn her sword, and it was shining in readiness.
The man closed half the distance to Erin. Now! thought Alec. Focus. Dark energy swirled, and the ground under the man’s feet changed from rock to porous sand. He immediately slipped up to his knees into the sand and almost fell over with the change in momentum. But he held his balance and tried to pull his feet out. The sand was too deep for that. He pulled back his spear to throw it at Erin.
Focus, thought Alec.
The middle part of the spear transformed into a burst of smoke that dissipated into the air. The lone man lost his balance with the change in his spear, and he fell backward into the soft sand. The point of the spear, now attached to a short piece of shaft, dropped harmlessly near Erin.
“Very clever, oh Great Wizard,” said Erin, knowing that she was pulling his leg.
The rest of Erin’s riders arrived just as the man rolled over in the sand and was trying to draw his sword. Two of the women riders quickly secured him, pulled him from the sandy area, and drug him before Erin.
The captive snarled. “Let me free, and we won’t be too harsh on you!”
Erin looked at him. “These are my lands, so being harsh on others is my chore, not yours.” She spat in his direction. “Who are you and why are you here?”
“I am a fighter for the people of Alder! I am an Alderman,” he said proudly. “Now let me go.”
“He speaks truth,” Erin muttered to Alec.
“Why are you here?” Alec asked, as brusquely as he could manage.
“None of your business. Let me go!”
“Who sent you?”
No answer.
“We aren’t getting anywhere,” said Alec to Erin. “In my country, torture is discouraged, but here anything seems to be allowed.
“Tell us the truth, or you will suffer,” he said to the man.
“I can handle anything you can do,” the Alderman said, sneering.
Focus. The little fingernail on the man’s right hand caught fire and burned its way out. They could see the pain was intense for him. Erin’s riders were impressed. They had never seen anything like this.
“I am going to do that to each one of your fingernails, one by one, if you don’t tell the Princess what she wants to know,” Alec told the man.
The intruder could see they were serious, and his expression dropped from hostility to resignation.
“That is better,” said Erin. She could sense that he had mentally given up and was going to tell them whatever they wanted. “Why are you here?”
“Two of us were sent out this morning to scout ahead to make sure no one interrupted our work,” the man grunted. “We saw you this morning as you started up the ridge. My partner went back to the main camp to tell the Captain. I stayed to watch you.” He surreptitiously stuck his little finger in his mouth to ease the pain.
“What work are you doing in your camp?” Alec asked.
“We are building a road through the mountain.”
“Wh
y?”
“For our soldiers. Our military.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
“He speaks truth,” said Erin.
Alec decided to try another line of questioning. “Where is Alder?”
“We have a base in the moonward part of the Grasslands.”
“You are from there?”
“No, no; there is just a base there. No one is from there. I am from a land far away.”
“How did you get from your land to the Grasslands?”
“I don’t know – we just marched through a tunnel, and we were there.”
Alec frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
“He speaks truth,” said Erin, looking at Alec and shrugging her shoulders.
“How many of you are up here? At your camp here in the mountains?”
“About thirty soldiers and maybe two hundred slaves.”
“Where is your camp?”
“It is about five els away, over the next ridge.”
“Show us your camp,” said Alec.
“That will take most of the remaining light today to get to their camp. Maybe we should go back and return tomorrow,” said one of Erin’s riders.
“No,” said Erin. “It will take the same amount of time tomorrow to get there. Let’s press on, at least to the top of the next ridge. Then we can decide what to do. I don’t like being outnumbered three to one, so I am reluctant to go all the way to their camp, but we need to have a view of what is happening.” Then she sent one of the riders back to relay the status to her base camp and bring some additional help tomorrow.
“Since they know we are here we don’t need to be stealthy. Our friend can lead us to the top of the ridge,” Alec said.
The riders started off toward the Alder camp, led by their captured soldier. They quickly moved up the next ridge, but as they reached the ridgetop, they heard a low growl and a dog emerged from the bushes – the kind that the Aldermen used to herd their captive slaves. The dog snarled at them and let out a high-pitched bark.